"This is a travesty! Not only have you been defeated by an inferior enemy - in open battle with monsters at your side, no less - but you have also yielded to them significant amounts of territory!”
"A decision had to be made! I had the choice of either having my army destroyed at the hands of those vermin, or return here and request the sufficient forces needed to crush them!"
I sat and watched idly as the two individuals argued at one another. As a member of the Imperial Council (or, as the Emperor called it, the Dark Council), it was imperative that I attended any meetings if they were called, lest I be accused of plotting against the Emperor for not doing so. As with most chores I had been forced to do, I had a distinct dislike in taking part in these meetings. But alas, with how much I valued my life, I had no choice but to attend.
Now, going back to current events, the issue of the day was the defeat of an army, carrying the full might of the Empire, by a theoretically inferior force of pony rebels. The commander of that army, who's name was lost to me, was currently being berated by Xerxes, a large, powerful minotaur who I considered one of the more fanatical members of the Council.
"But in this process you have undertook, you have given these rats the opportunity to cause chaos throughout the entire Western Province-!"
"Not that I'm complaining." All heads turned to the source of the new voice, which was soon revealed to be none other than the draconequus known as Eris. Ever the dramatic, conniving, and unpredictable individual, Eris was ironically your average draconequus. She had earned her place on the Council when she used her powers to root out a rebellion in the Eastern Province before it could take off. Naturally, many were suspicious of her motives due to the species she belonged to.
Xerxes was one of these individuals, and having been angered by her interruption, turned his attacks towards her. "You are also to blame for this! If you had infiltrated them, none of this would have happened!"
To that, Eris waved a claw dismissively, "Do you really think I have the time to look into every Province and find every rebel cell there is? No, I don't. I have other things to focus on, and are much more worth my time and energy."
Xerxes smirked as though he hit the jackpot, "Such as plotting against the Dark Lord?"
That seemed to have hit a nerve, as Eris went from a calm demeanor, to thunderous anger as she jumped from her seat to stare down at her accuser.
"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! You of all should know that I have risked my life on many occasions to ensure that our Dark Lord forever reigns supreme over these lands!"
"Are you telling the truth? Or are you spinning lies to hide the treachery you draconeqii always dabble in?"
"Listen here you mongrel, I gave more than-!"
"Enough."
Everyone in the room winced upon the Emperor's voice thundering throughout the room. Both Eris and Xerxes promptly fell silent.
On the far end of the table which the Council convened upon, sat the Emperor himself, who had been so far watching the unfolding debate with complete disinterest. His stare was piercing, lacking any kind of mercy or patience. Combined with the great magical power he weld with his bell, it is easy to see why it would have been a most unwise decision to confront him in any circumstance.
"I grow tired of your pestering. You two shall leave to the Western Province upon the end of this session. You may return only after you crush these pony upstarts. I trust that such a simple task wouldn't be much of a problem for you?"
"No, Milord." Both answered simultaneously, bowing in deference to his authority.
"Good." Satisfied with his response, he then turned his attention to the unfortunate commander. "And you."
The commander, understandably so, immediately became terrified under the Emperor's scrutiny. "Y-yes, milord…?"
"You have brought great embarrassment not only to this Empire, but to me as well. Not only have you been defeated with an army containing creatures I personally created, but you also willingly yielded territory to a rebel force any other commander could have wiped out in a matter of hours." The Emperor stated simply. Almost instantly, we all knew exactly which direction this conversation was heading towards.
At the Dark Monarch's accusations, the commander sputtered in response. A dangerous move which only helped to ensure his eventual fate.
"Th-that may be true, b-but if I hadn't retreated, we would have-"
"I've had enough with your excuses." And, just like that, the disgraced commander was dragged away by Guardsmen. He kicked and screamed, begging for mercy as much as he could, but as expected, none in the Council were interested in challenging the Emperor's decision. Instead, we elected to drown out as much of the noise as possible. Or at least that's what I did.
When the doors to the room had finally slammed shut, and the commander's begging fading in the distance, the Emperor returned his attention to the Council. "That will conclude this session. You may leave." As if on queue, the entire Council jumped out of their seats, me included. It seems I wasn't the only one who wished to leave as soon as possible.
However, to my great misfortune, the Emperor called out again.
"You shall stay, Zerstörung. I wish to speak to you privately."
My heart sank at the words as fear began to grip my mind. What did he want to speak to me about? Did he suspect I did something treasonous? All these thoughts raced through my head within seconds of each other, and within that time I began planning words and sentences in advance, so as to not cause death by execution due to a slip of the tongue.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the sight of Eris leaving the room. She was looking over in my direction, and upon noticing that I now had my attention on her, she smiled sadly, mouthing the words 'good luck' before finally making a quick exit.
Perfect. Even the loyal draconequus had taken pity on my predicament.
I watched helplessly from my seat as the Council shuffled itself out of the room in a hurried haste, with none, even the most loyal, wanting to stay near the Emperor for much longer. Can't say I blame them. Eventually, the last Councilor left the room, and with it, the grandiose double-doored entrance shut behind him, leaving just me, a somewhat-scrawny human woman with the most powerful sorcerer and conqueror the world has yet seen. In other words, a life-or-death situation.
"Let us get to the point," began the Emperor, who to my surprise was using his normal voice. "I do not trust Eris and Xerxes to respect my will and work together to bring down this insurrection."
"Then why did you give them the task in the first place?" I almost said out of instinct, but I wisely held my tongue at the last moment.
The Emperor continued, "Because of this, I need someone to monitor them to ensure that our forces in the Western Province aren't divided into independent factions."
Wait. Does he mean-
"And since I see you as the safest candidate for the role, I will be appointing you as the Governor of the Western Province to prevent such things from happening."
What?
"Eh?"
"It is surprising, of course, but I must ensure that my Empire's humiliation at the hands of Pony Rebels will be answered to as effectively as possible."
Pathetically, I tried to escape from my predicament, stuttering the first few words, "B-but w-what about the current Governor?"
"He'll be terminated."
…Okay. Fair enough.
After a few seconds of silence, I stood from my seat, before bowing to the Emperor. The words flowed effortlessly. Repeated many times in the past few years, "By the grace of the great Grogar, Conqueror of All, King of the Monsters, Lord of Darkness, and Emperor of Equus, I humbly accept this appointment, as your ever faithful and loyal serf."
It was an oath I absolutely despised, as someone who hated the idea of being watched and controlled. It represented the idea that I was no longer free, a mere slave to the Emperor's ambitions. But, as an individual, I valued my own life more than anything. And refusing to swear the oath would make it forfeit.
Speaking of the Emperor, the ram himself smiled, satisfied at my declaration. He prepared to speak…
…Only for the sound of a screaming train to come out of his mouth instead.
I was confused. Why did he made that noi-
I was jolted awake when I was launched from the crate I had apparently been sleeping on, falling to the floor of the boxcar with a thud. The screeching of the train's wheels on the track deafening to my ears. Dazed, I wondered what had happened and why I was so suddenly awoken for the second time of my journey.
After recovering some sense of the situation, I realized that a some time had passed since I had fallen asleep. The outside was significantly darker, which meant night had fallen. The train was also coming to a halt, signaling that it was finally arriving at its destination, thus completing phase two of my grand plan to live a nomadic lifestyle, and that phase three, insert myself into society was a go. There was only one problem to that, though.
As the train slowed down significantly, I began to worry that I might have been spotted by the security of the station, as the train's massive decrease in speed in such a short amount of time had led me to believe. After all, why would a train so abruptly stop if there wasn't a suspected surfer? And on top of that, the crystals on my staff were still glowing like a Christmas tree, which was likely what alerted them to my presence. How convenient.
The flames of my misfortune were further stoked as the train slowed down enough to where I began to hear what was happening outside the open boxcar. And least to say, it wasn't good. There were voices, though how many I did not know, shouting what sounded much like orders, as well as the rapid clopping of hooves. The recognition of such a sound made me release an annoyed sigh. "Of course. Ponies."
But I didn't have time to complain about such things. As it stood, the sounds of hooves were getting louder along with the voices, getting ever more closer to the boxcar with every second. I concluded that a guard had seen the boxcar open, and had alerted the entire depot. In other words, my plan had successfully failed.
But that didn't mean I couldn't try to hide. Wasting no time, I hid behind one of the crates in one of the corners of the boxcar, willing my staff to deactivate in order for its crystals to dim enough so that the boxcar was engulfed in darkness, and doing my best to adjust myself into the small space I put myself into. I struggled for some time, but eventually I was able to put myself in deep enough so that I hopefully wouldn't be seen from the entrance. And it was just on time too, as the sound of running hooves had ceased, as the ponies had reached the boxcar I had chosen. Their voices, once just shouts, were now discernable.
"See, told ya nothin' was in there. Those guards at Ponyville probably just forgot to lock it." One of the guards, who had a distinct country accent, claimed. My hope began to rise at the possibility of them writing it off as merely a minor mistake. These hopes were quickly dashed, however, when a second voice chimed in.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Look here. The lock's broken. Not only that, but most of the damn crates are open!" At the mention of the open crates of apples, I mentally cursed myself for my negligence, added on top of not deactivating my staff. I began to prepare for the worst, and readied myself to jump out of my hiding place and make a run for it.
These preparations inevitably became justified when the one with the country accent responded. "Well, if ya wanna search the damn car, be mah guest. But Ah'll be stayin' out here."
Not long after the words were spoken, the clipping of hooves resonated throughout the boxcar in a deafening echo. With such a loud sound piercing my eardrums, I became startled and as a result shifted in my hiding place, which inevitably made some noise. Silence reigned for only a second, but within that time I hoped with every fiber of my being that my little frightened stupor had gone unnoticed.
But, as my terrible luck would have it, these hopes were immediately dashed when the pony with the country accent spoke up again. "The Tartarus was that?"
"I don't know," the other pony responded. His voice was somewhat far from my position, but I suspected that would be changed shortly. I once again began to make preparations on making a run for it. Creeping behind the crate, I peeked out from my hiding spot to look at who I had to contend with.
There were two guards. Both of them appeared to be armed only with spears, and also wore black armor throughout their bodies, with saddlebags attached to their flanks, which I found somewhat strange. After all, if you're living in the Industrial Revolution, why are your guards still equipped with medieval gear and weapons? But that wasn't the only thing I found interesting about them, as my attention turned to what was attached onto their backs. Which I only did so by the merit of them being bat wings rather than the normal feathered wings which every other pegasi had.
For a moment, I marvelled at the sight, fascinated by it. During all my time as an enforcer of the Emperor's will, I have never seen such a species of ponies before. So fascinated I was by them that I vowed (in my head, of course) to learn everything there is to know about them. This resolve was even furthered when I noticed that their eyes were also different to that of a common pony, being more slit and cat-like unlike their pony brethren.
I also noticed that those eyes were staring directly at me.
Realizing my own stupidity, I attempted to duck back behind the crate I had hidden behind, desperately hoping the pony hadn't seen anything. But, knowing how unfortunate I tend to be, you can guess what happened next.
"Hey, there's somepony in here!" The one, who I assumed was the one who stared at me, exclaimed.
"Really?" The other one sounded rather dismissive of his comrade's exclamation. "You sure? I don't see anythin'."
"There is!" A heavy silence came after the shout. Nothing or no one seemed daring enough to move or say anything that would break the silence. So silent it was that I even slowed my breathing to avoid piercing it like a knife through butter.
Eventually, the pony in the car with me began to move again, this time very slowly. It was as if he didn't want to be heard, but that was quickly disproven with what he did next.
"Come out, we don't want to hurt you." The pony said in a reassuring voice. Of course, with the history I had with the ponies, this statement can be regarded as rather questionable. And with the sound of his hooves still moving closer and closer to my hiding spot by the second, I came to see the lie that it was. Instead, I prepared to extricate myself from this situation. Most notably by waiting for him to come to me. And as It would turn out, I wouldn't have to wait long.
"If you come willingly, we'll let you go with a warning." He continued to assure me with his empty promises. The sound of his hooves were now almost directly in front of me. And if my timing is correct, then…
The pony jumped in front of me, staring me down, although it quickly faded to confusion and, quite possibly, fear. "Last chance - what the-!?"
I wasted no time. In a mere second, I pounced from my position, taking the pony in my arms before he could have readied his spear to defend himself. As soon as I had him, I shoved him into one of the opposite crates, making sure I gave full priority to his head as I did so. And so with a resounding smash, the guard was unconscious.
"Sweet Luna!" Of course, he wasn't the only guard I had to deal with.
Turning my attention to the other guard, I saw that he had his spear out, and was, as confidently as he could be, standing his ground. However, this wasn't the only thing he was doing, as his wings made weird movements, twitching up and down, all the while hitting his armor, causing a loud tapping noise which echoed across the area. It almost reminded me of morse code. But if it was, then that meant-
The realization hit me hard. He was calling for help!
Knowing That my window of escape was closing fast, my characteristic indecisiveness disappeared. Reactivating my staff, I charged at the pony. However, he expected this, and within a few seconds, I was thrown to the ground. He moved to strike a finishing blow, but I was fortunately able to roll out of the way.
Getting back on my feet, I faced down the pony again. If I am to escape, this damn annoyance had to be taken care of, ASAP. But my time was running out. I could see two more ponies with bat wings coming to join the fight, and there are probably more on the way. To end the battle quickly, I teleported behind the pony. Before he could react, I whacked his head with the wooden part of my staff. The buloke did its work, withstanding the force of the impact, and even denting the pony’s helmet. He flopped to the ground, clearly unconscious.
Now with my last obstacle to freedom passed, I looked for the furthest roof I could see. With such an easy task being completed, I quickly began the spell that would finally begin my plans for a nomadic life.
Then tragedy struck.
While the two approaching ponies were still too far away to have been able to interrupt my teleportation, I hadn't accounted for the possibility that the pony who I had incapacitated in the boxcar would be able to regain conscious in such a short amount of time. Perhaps he recovers better than his peers, or he was simply dazed, and not unconscious. Either way, it didn't change the fact that he tackled me mid-spell, interrupting my concentration. However, while my concentration was interrupted, the spell itself was not, and as a consequence, not only was I teleported, but he as well. And with my designated target now unknown by the spell, the location we were transported to was beyond my control.
And so, I teleported out of the mess I had made, although with the misfortunate side effect of taking one of the ponies with me, as well as not being transported to my desired location. For all I know, I'd be teleported to the Frozen North of all places. And with how atrocious my luck has been thus far, I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case.
And so, with that line of thought in my head, I mentally braced myself for the cold, unforgiving wasteland… all the while cursing that stupid pony for bringing me there.